


Crash of a Star

by CloudEllis



Category: Death Note, Naruto
Genre: Character Death, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Dimension Travel, F/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Realm Hopping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-01-24 17:41:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1613693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudEllis/pseuds/CloudEllis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the brink of her demise after a battle brought on by obfuscated emotions, Sakura is thrust into another world by a quirky, paper-loving death god who calls itself Bea. Character death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Out of Area

**Author's Note:**

> Brought to you from FF.net! The only multi-chapter story I've written thus far. This will move pretty fast at first and then slow down some. There's going to be a few of things you probably won't understand at first, but they will be explained in due time. Give it a try though, yeah?
> 
> Cross-over: Naruto/Death Note
> 
> Pairing: L/Saku (Some implied Near/Saku)
> 
> Rated: M for violence, language and other suggestive themes.
> 
> Disclaimer: Naruto and Death Note do not belong to me.

Death forces you to feel a lot of things. _  
_

For Haruno Sakura, it was like a wave of emotions that bled to the surface as she lay on the forest floor, raking her trembling fingers in the dirt. It was like a rush of alleviating coolness that started at the top of her head, spreading through her chest and growing warmer as it reached the tips of her toes. Stinging tears fell from the lashes of her bleary eyes, and streaked dirt stained trails down her paling face.

The senbon pinned in her arms had nothing to do with the trilling pain that made her body shudder, and it wasn't the large, gaping hole in her abdomen, courtesy of a jutsu whose wielder she'd never thought she would see again that made her feel so exposed, and open and cold inside. That event and all the hurt it could bring had been rode out until the moment where she had found herself in her current condition. Throat slashed and covered in bruises, body riddled with kunai and shuriken, she simply laid there without a sound as a flurry of ANBU raced through the forest. She watched their shadowed forms move through the thicket of trees, blind to her presence and unable to sense her slowly fading chakra signature.

The kunoichi's heart beat slow in her chest, numb and thumping in protest as she drew in a ragged breath and finally closed her eyes. Faint shouting fell to her ears, coming from a distance that was not so far away, but the words held no meaning to her.

She had already heard what she had—unknowingly—waited for what felt like a lifetime to hear and unfortunately, after listening, Sakura had come to the bitter conclusion that she no longer cared.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha had finally made his long anticipated return to Konoha.

He was accommodated by the entirety of the rookie nine, with Naruto at the lead as he stumbled through the village gates, chakra nearly spent and a few superficial wounds. Five years had gone by without a hitch since word had gotten around that Sasuke had succeeded with his revenge, only to seemingly drop off the face of the earth sometime afterward. He could have come back at any time, seeing as the vendetta he'd been fiercely obsessing over for years had finally been resolved. The clamor of his betrayals had died down, and the council, to her own silent shock, was even willing to compromise in regards to his offenses against the village in the favor of his own self-reinstatement, to boot.

Sasuke, as well-informed as any S-class rogue nin had to be about the goings on in the shinobi world, certainly had to have known all of these things the moment the information had presented itself. And that is why, as she stood away from the cluster of ninja that had swarmed around him as if he were an unearthed tragic hero, she wondered why he had chosen today.

Naruto was standing at the front among their fellow peers, pelting the Uchiha with more questions than he could answer. At one point, Sasuke's dark eyes trailed away from the crowd in search of something...and found hers.

They stared at each other; Sasuke's eyes a flat, dim gray in comparison to the reflective and intimidatingly dark she had become accustomed to since so long ago. So calm and so tired, yet, not once did they leave her face. He was certainly looking at her—his unrelenting gaze was almost curious, but for what and why, she didn't know.

The undisclosed staring contest continued. After a while, it started to bother her. The look he gave was so pitiful; so weak...so un-Sasuke like. Sakura had always thought with the greatest bitterness, that the moment she would witness this man's most weakest moment was when she would attend his funeral and watch his vulnerable form being carried off in a casket.

She had been so wrong.

He was home; he was safe, and yet it felt far too late. The very vacancy in that permanent, blank stare exclaimed every horror he had seen in every way his words never would. Banter-filled mornings and exhilarating, fun-filled sparing matches with the boys she adored. Lazing at the training grounds late in the afternoon to talk about this and that, later wandering through the village streets. Linked arms, chorusing laughter and eventually a pause at Ichiraku's for a bowl of ramen in the evening...no more.

There had never been a time as painfully clear as this where she was forced to acknowledge the cruel reality of the truth.

Sasuke Uchiha of Konoha's team seven no longer existed. The boy she knew had died with his revenge, and all they were left with was a shell in his likeness.

Sakura was suddenly very inexplicably angry.

Her jaw clenched and her shoulders tensed as she slowly balled her fists at her side. Apparently having noticed an abrupt change in the pink haired girl, Sasuke's eyes widened. He took a small step back despite the great sea of people placed between them. Sakura's jade eyes widened in fleeting disbelief—in the right setting, she might have found Sasuke's withdrawal from her quite amusing—and then narrowed acutely as Naruto regained the dark haired man's attention in that moment. The Uchiha clan survivor reluctantly looked down at the blonde young man who was only about a half a head shorter now, and placed a hand on his spiky hair. Sakura saw him frown and mutter something, though his voice was lost among the crowd.

The roseate haired girl shuddered in her increasing frustration and turned away to stalk off toward the village's center. It was in that moment that all her walls flew up; no person, no words, no thing could penetrate the wrath that very nearly tangibly warped the atmosphere around her. Sakura was angry as she strode down the quiet street, though a small, quiet part of her told her that her fury was misplaced. She was scared, because a larger part of her was screaming to her that this was the end, no matter how she told herself she felt about it.

But, most of all—Sakura was very deeply and irreversibly hurt.

Sakura's footsteps gradually turned into deliberate stomps as she made her way through the village streets. She hadn't thrown a fit or encountered anything that inspired this much rage in over six years, but she felt compelled to let it flow free and consume her, unrestrained.

 **That's a pretty bad idea...** Her Inner self warned. The roseate haired girl laughed bitterly to herself. It was almost as if she and her other persona had switched mentalities for a time, as Inner would often be the one to fan the flames on her quieted anger, drawing it out through treacherous and inconsistent slips in her most dominant and sound personality.

Ignoring Inner's foreboding words, the pinkette continued around the corner to disappear from the public eye, leaving a small trail of web-like fissures crawling through the ground after her.

* * *

The forest near the back entrance of Konoha appeared to be her destination. Without so much as a moment's hesitation, Sakura disarmed the seals and scaled the tall fence. She jumped over the edge and landed safely on the other side, crouching as she touched the ground and then rising cautiously to full height.

 **I really don't advise this! _Sakura_!** Inner warned once more. Sakura closed her eyes tighter than necessary and concentrated on almost completely masking her chakra signature. She knew there were guards posted at every exit in the village, and ANBU would be on her before she could take another step if they sensed her wandering around outside of it.

Shiki is stationed at the east post...She pondered, chewing on her bottom lip as she mulled over her available options. She had chosen the south post for a reason, knowing that the north one was clearly occupied, and not wanting to risk encountering someone at the west gate. No one would be here and she was certain of this, because the person who normally guarded this section was currently standing among the crowd she had abandoned; an arm draped around the shoulders of his dark-haired sweetheart and a senbon dangling lazily from his mouth.

 **Clever thinking, but where the hell are we going?** Inner wanted to know. The crisp leaves of late fall crunched beneath her feet as Sakura dipped her head and journeyed through the dense forest, only pausing now and then to untangle herself from a gnarled branch that caught in her hair.

If she was honest with herself, she didn't know where she was going; only that she needed to keep moving forward.

A few steps further found the medic nin out of the cluster of leafless oaks and exposed to the soft warmth of sunlight. She stared up at the late afternoon sky, watching the puffy white clouds roll lazily by. A small brook divided the area and another arrangement of trees, flowing quietly over a bed of rocks at the bottom of the narrow estuary. Finally alone and feeling somewhat sedated by the scenery, Sakura settled herself down in the grass, slowly inhaling the scent of the sun-baked earth and reveling in the natural silence that worked gradually to dissolve the remains of her indignant mood.

But the serenity was obviously not meant to last.

A shadow fell over her closed lids as Sakura rolled onto her back, shoulder-length coral tresses fanning out against a rare patch of green grass. Thinking it to be a cloud passing over the sun, she placed a hand over her eyes and let out a somewhat content sigh.

That was when she felt the hand on her neck. Startled, the kunoichi's eyes flew open to meet twin orbs of dark. Immediately, she sat up quickly. Her head pulsed as heat inflamed her face when she was again met with the unusually calm and alarming eyes that matched that terribly familiar face. Her heart slammed up into her chest as his hands clamped down on her shoulders with a firm, almost threatening grip.

Sasuke stared at her until Sakura had the decency to realize he was waiting for her to say something.

Anger, rediscovered, stirred within her. Sakura quickly pulled away and brought herself to stand. Sasuke didn't move as if he intended to go after her, as she had the odd feeling he would. Instead, his eyes lifted slowly and blinked in what could only be described as mild surprise, as if he had only just noticed Sakura had moved.

He was staring again; charcoal eyes glinting as the sunlight swept over the small clearing. Sakura's own eyes steeled on reflex, and she stared back uncertainly. A part of her was expecting the feigned look of wonder to melt from his handsome features, and the brooding look or pretentious smirk to which she had grown so accustomed to reappear.

But there was only silence...and Sasuke's haunting expression never changed.

When her expectations were not met, the kunoichi slowly lowered her guard. Startled, her anger escaped her and curiosity quickly took up residence before she could decide how to feel next.

Why had Sasuke come looking for her, anyway? Leaving him and the crowd of villagers behind, she had not expected him to come seeking her out like this. Eight or so years ago, she thought absently, he had wanted nothing to do with her. It had taken her a ridiculous amount of time to come to terms with this, and after coming to accept this, all of her obstructions had fallen away. Though the unpleasantness concerning their relationship did not stop there, after so long Sakura had found a way to move on.

No longer harboring any unrequited feelings or, (In Ino's own words) depriving herself of things she could have, Sakura had rebuilt a new, unbreakable foundation for herself. While things could never be the same, the bond with her reformed team was something she came to cherish. Gradually, she was able to fully enjoy the time she spent with the people who were there for her, and cared for her without the burden of constant worry.

Obsession dwindled from concern to wonder, and eventually it was lost in time...

 _Why did he come back now_? A small, very angry voice in Sakura's head inquired. Her fists tightened again at her sides. Taking a step forward, her sandaled feet crunched the dead leaves on the ground. Sasuke was watching her very closely and had noticed her slow advance, but the sound was not enough to startle her out of her own infuriated thoughts.

After all this time...After how long they were made to wait, how dare he come back and put everything she had created into jeopardy?

 _Are you going to let this happen?_ Asked the very same voice as before. In her correct mind, Sakura may have realized at this time that she was, quite literally, going insane.

"...No." Sakura decided firmly, quietly to herself. She couldn't allow this to happen. Sasuke's eyes were jet black saucers by now. His fingers were knotted in the grass beneath his hands, squeezing so hard that his knuckles hand turned white. Sakura silently watched his mouth open slowly and then close.

She was obviously upset by his abrupt return, he had already gathered from the moment he had arrived, but that was now probably an understatement.

"Sakura," he tried, hyper aware of the tone of his voice. The pink haired girl stared down at him, her mouth steeled into a hard and unforgiving line. Her usually cheerful green eyes were alight with anger.

"Listen to me. I..." Sasuke's mouth went unexpectedly dry and he suddenly found himself unable to speak.

Damn it...He had prepared himself for this. He had been prepared to admit that he had made many, many mistakes, and that he was prepared to face the consequences. His team, his home and everything that was important to him were right here in this village. There was so much to say...so much to tell them, and he had waited five long years to summon the courage to give them the explanation and comfort they deserved. He didn't want Sakura's affection or her forgiveness, and he certainly wasn't expecting it.

A sense of closure was what she deserved; to be free from the grief and worry he knew that his absence had tormented his closest friends with.

What was left of his pride had practically dwindled to nothing when he saw her face behind the crowd today. Her anger resonated with him, and now as he forced herself to look at her face and the accumulated anger behind her eyes, he wondered if an earlier return could have lessened such animosity...

_But..._

It didn't matter. Everything he needed to explain would be said here, and she would be the first to know.

"Sakura, look..." Sasuke began, taking a cautious step forward.

Those were the last words he was able to say before he found himself lying on his back, pinned to the ground with a kunai aimed at his throat.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later found the two former team mates beneath the shadows of a clearing, panting, bleeding and running on chakra vapors. Small craters riddled the abused expanse of earth, trees slain from their roots and strewn across the remnants of a once docile little forest; murdered in constitution to the unbridled wrath of one Uchiha Sasuke and one roseate terror.

Sakura pressed her back against a canted tree and heaved a sigh. The cicadas in the branches hummed in unison, and then their descant broke apart at the sound of hurried footfalls. The kunoichi's clouded green orbs flitted to the Uchiha lying face down on the ground near her feet, his disheveled raven hair caked with dirt, blood and littered with specks of dead leaves. A carmine pool spanned out from under his unmoving body, staining the ground and darkening the parched tufts of weathered earth.

Huffing and pressing her hand against the gaping wound in her stomach, Sakura gently toed him in the side and only stared on dispassionately when Sasuke did not move.

He was dead.

 


	2. Distortion

An other-worldly being, deeply intrigued by the events that it had just witnessed, emerged from the shadows and slowly ghosted over to the mangled body of a young human woman lying on the ground. Frantic voices shouting demands miles away from their location traveled faintly back to its keen, pointed ears. Despite the distance, it had gathered enough intelligence to know that they were currently looking for the two humans it had accidentally discovered. While the boy was clearly dead, numbers striking to all zeros the moment his body hit the ground, the girl was still hanging on to a thread of her life; she was breathing faintly and writhing around, as though being shook by some unseen force.

It watched the digits tick off like the numbers on a digital clock above the young woman's head; twenty seconds left to go.

The other humans would never find her in time.

The entire bout had all but confused the platinum-haired creature, even more now as it watched the tears stream from her eyes. Was the pain of her injuries simply that unbearable, or was she grieving over the loss of her companion whose life she had just taken? It couldn't seem to analyze the girl's actions at all. Shock had conquered its normally stoic features as it watched the pinkette brutally slay the human young man, and then take off before a fleet of masked humans could catch up and retrieve her. She had fallen somewhere a few miles away, unable to move any longer and bleeding profusely from the hole punched into her chest. According to what it had seen, it had taken a lot on the girl's side to provoke the boy into a mutual fight, but towards the end, he was only able to endure so much of her torment and affliction before he acknowledged the ability to defend himself.

Their battle was amazing; a no holds barred brawl. They moved in perfect unison, meeting each other blow for blow and working to counteract the others' movements. Just when it seemed as though the kunoichi would lose, suffering from blood loss and sluggish movement due to multiple projectiles having embedded themselves into her body, she had delivered to her opponent a final, breath plundering blow. It sent him clear across the forest with such an incredible force that he tumbled like a dead weight over the ground several times, neck snapping crudely in the process before he slid to an unceremonious heap, never to move again.

It was both frightening and awe-inspiring, but it wasn't what made the shinigami so rapt with curiosity. The girl had come out victorious, but triumph never marred her dirtied features. Instead, she had stared down her opponent with an impassive expression shortly before leaving, even nudging him in the side as if to confirm the demise that she had done everything in her power to make sure of. This person had murdered a defenseless other in cold blood, even seeming to revel in their quarrel and the abuse which she had inflicted upon him, and yet her current disposition was now that of nothing but grief and repentance.

So curious...

Humans really are such peculiar creatures...Bea mused, his cardinal eyes narrowing as he dropped lightly to the ground on his feet and knelt down to inspect Sakura's still trembling form. Her skin had turned ashen, and a sheen of sweat had broken out as her breaths transcended from heavy and desperate to shallow pants. Her chest heaved dangerously, pulling the weapons protruding from her wounds deeper into her flesh. Her eyes were barely open, and Bea briefly entertained the idea of her being able to see him...

It was then that the girl lifted a trembling hand and brought her fingers to sweep the underside of the shinigami's chin. Carmine orbs wide with disbelief, he watched the ironic curve take form on her lips and attuned his ears to her subtle whisper.

"So...I'm already in hell."

Bea blinked down at her, transfixed for a moment by the words that had come from her mouth, and then his lips pulled back into a smirk to reveal a twin set of sharply filed teeth.

"No, but would you like to pay a visit?"

* * *

_"I'm sorry, but it appears as though..."_

Naruto Uzumaki was absolutely livid; his body was shaking. No, he decided, sick of the excuses; sick of just sitting here and doing nothing. Waiting a minute longer was out of the question; he just couldn't, anymore.

Not after learning that his best friend was dead.

Fighting back tears of confusion and frustration, the blonde raked his trembling fingers through his unruly hair and dropped his face in his hands. Tsunade sat across from him at her desk, her hands folded under her chin and staring at the blonde with mutual vexation clouding her amber eyes.

This was only the first blow, but she couldn't bring herself to deliver him two in the same hour. About forty-five minutes ago, the ANBU cell that she had dispatched to investigate the commotion outside the village had returned to deliver Sasuke Uchiha's body to the coroners. She had gone down to investigate after the body was identified, and the cause of death was then confirmed; a hole punched right through the abdomen, twice, but no larger than the size of a fist. Her head began to swim with fear, sadness and disappointment, and then only fear after she was suddenly informed that her apprentice—no, her beloved little surrogate daughter could not be found.

"Sakura...Has anyone told Sakura?" Naruto mumbled quietly, his eyes lowering to the floor. He couldn't even begin to imagine his pink haired team mate's reaction after learning of the Uchiha's death.

Tears welled in the Godaime's eyes then, and a stray one that rolled down her cheek did not go unnoticed by Naruto. Blue eyes cut to his former sensei, who was leaning against the wall at the opposite side of the room near the door, orange book in hand as something suddenly seemed to register within him.

The orange clad nin hurriedly turned back to Tsunade, his eyes wide with shock. Slowly, he stood, knocking the chair over as he stumbled back; he suddenly found it hard to breathe.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto cried, effectively pulling the Hokage out of her contemplative trance. The woman's hands dropped to her desk, and her mouth formed into a grim line as she struggled to force out the words she knew she had to say. Finally, she lowered her head, pressed her hands against her face and spoke over a pained gasp.

"Sakura is...she's gone."

Sakura stared up at the pale man that was smirking toothily down at her.

Toothily; with sharp fangs jutting from his mouth.

**That's** _ **not**_ **a man!** Inner Sakura screamed in horror, emerging from her dormant state to express her mutual panic. Alarm bells went off in Sakura's head as the... _creature_ leaned down and began to remove the senbon from her arms, and then the shuriken and kunai buried to the hilt in other sections of her body. Its back was turned to her as it began to examine the large hole in her abdomen, running taloned fingers over her exposed flesh after ripping the fabric of her shirt open with its bare hands.

Its platinum hair was gathered in a long, loose tail at the back of its head, while the rest, aside from an odd loop of hair coiled at the top (it reminded Sakura of an antenna) seemed to drape shoulder length, close to its long, slender neck. Once or twice, it looked over its shoulder with pale red eyes, gauging her reaction after prodding her a few times as if to see what hurt and where. The kunoichi, for the most part, would stare back at it dispassionately through half lidded eyes, her body occasionally jolting to the pain of her injuries.

Finally, Bea dropped the last soiled weapon into the pile with the others and sat back to look at Sakura.

Haruno Sakura. Sakura; how befitting was that.

He'd managed to buy the girl an extra few minutes or so by removing the crude metal lodged purposely near all of her vital spots, and now that she was lucid, she was staring up at him crossly with smoldering, apple green eyes. He really liked the fire he saw there, though the expression itself confused him; he was trying to save her life, after all.

He almost had to laugh at her silent bravado. Had she encountered another shinigami, well...that was just the thing; she would have never encountered another shinigami. Furthermore, it was quite ironic that something like him had come to her aid. He was a death god, after all, and he was meant to be taking lives, not saving them.

Wandering around in another world out of boredom was something Bea was scolded for on a daily basis. Being inactive and roaming around the plains of oblivion doing nothing grew pretty damn boring, and most of the others couldn't care enough to blame him.

The quirky shinigami took pleasure in small, but effective and mischievous shenanigans; those in which his peers found lesser amusement. Now and then he would travel to one insignificant area, playing said pranks and when he grew bored, he would swiftly move on to the next.

Most often, he would be questioned about the death note which he carried on his person at all times, but Bea, as thorough and methodical as he was with his doings, would promptly answer that the universe in its current state was in no need of any more supernatural catastrophes; it was already bringing enough affliction upon itself, and with one incredibly delusional sap to blame, at that.

Ryuk really did have all the fun.

For what it was worth, Bea could usually do well enough to keep himself out of trouble, and would eventually return 'home' looking and feeling just as bored as he had been when he'd left. But looking down at this pink haired girl, the moment he had floated out of the shadows and into her apparent view, he'd known that he had gotten himself into quite the dangerous predicament. Hobbies and personal interests aside, he knew that he would be in deep shit if anyone ever found out about this.

Oh, well; he supposed he could deal with it later.

Sakura's glare dissolved into a frown as the shinigami continued to study her. This thing was some kind of monster, but only in the sense that its features were distorted; pointed ears, a strange eye color, and...well, besides the odd piercings adorning the different sections of its face, and the frighteningly sharp set of teeth, it could have almost passed for a human.

Almost.

She wasn't going to humor herself again and believe that she had made it into hell, because she could still feel the pain in her body...and it was still quite difficult to breathe.

**Hell, huh** Inner mused. **Then wouldn't this thing be a demon?**

A demon...? Was that what this thing was?

Inner gave a half shrug of sorts. **I don't know...Let's ask!**

The kunoichi rolled her eyes, and then nearly rolled them again when she saw the creature picking its teeth with the clean end of a senbon. Feeling the girl's eyes on him, Bea turned around, metal needle hanging from his mouth.

"Eh? What 'cha starin' for?"

"What the hell are you?" Sakura deadpanned. The shinigami gave a snort of a laugh and rolled the senbon deftly between his fingers. What a snarky little wildcat she was; another admirable quality he decided he liked.

"I'm really impressed that you're able to see me, hm...If everyone else of your species is able to notice my presence in this world, we're going to have a problem."

"We're?" Sakura repeated, ignoring that he—it hadn't answered her question. Bea regarded the kunoichi for a moment. He had only been considering it at first, but the deed was already half done. He really hated to leave things unfinished, anyway.

Peculiar? Most certainly. But lazy? Oh, no.

"Yeah." Bea said and flicked the senbon to the ground. It stuck in the dirt as he rose to his feet. "You're coming with me."

"Not if I can help it." Sakura said, now attempting to stand. Her legs wobbled as she anchored herself to a fallen tree and tried to pull herself to full height. The shinigami stared at her in disbelief as she succeeded with a grimace. Bea smirked. Damn, she really was something else. Yes, he would have to take her. Besides, if he left her now she was definitely going to die.

"You wanna live, don't 'cha?" It wasn't a question, really, but he still expected to get an answer, anyway; that answer being yes.

"Here." Sakura managed a stern reply, despite the slight shakiness of her voice. No way she was going to go living anywhere else with this monster. Where did he plan on taking her, anyway?

Sakura hoisted herself onto one of the rocks jutting from the ground, half unearthed in the middle of chaos and closed her eyes in concentration. She began to probe around inside of her body with the trickle of chakra she had left, checking the severity of the damage that Sasuke's chidori had done to her. With it, he had surprisingly missed any vital points in this area and managed to hit near all of them weapons alone. She'd been able to heal the gash in her throat, as it demanded immediate attention at the time if she wanted to keep breathing, but other than that, her medical chakra was spent.

...Not that it really mattered at this point. She had evidently killed a man, and she was all but aware of the way her village handled such crimes against its own people.

Sasuke...She had deliberately killed Uchiha Sasuke.

Sakura made a strangled crying sound and clapped a bloodstained hand over her mouth. Her throat constricted painfully and her body flushed with the feeling of nausea at just the thought of what she had done; whose life she had taken.

What would become of her now?

Bea's eyes narrowed and a tiny smirk drew up on his lips. She was clearly thinking over the severity of her situation. She had to know that those humans were still out looking for her. If they were to discover that she had killed one of her own, would they turn on her? Kill her? Humans were unpredictable, and her situation was iffy so it was hard to say...

But Sakura clearly understood the gravity of her situation, and she knew that there was no going back; alive, at least. She had done something truly awful, and the worst part was, she couldn't even begin to explain how things had resulted in the way they were now in the first place. She figured it all must have started the moment he'd returned to the village earlier that day. That brief moment where their eyes met, she had felt that anger twisting up and knotting within her...That calm, yet somber expression in those dark depths had manifested something insidious and phenomenal within her, and from there on, she was almost forcibly resigned from stopping it.

This explanation would never do in front of any council or court, though. She knew she was at fault here, no matter what deviant feelings his presence had evoked from her.

There were no excuses for murder.

Beside her, the odd creature, her apparent savior was grinning at her creepily. She stared up at it for a long minute, again trying to figure out exactly what it was. Finally, after failing to come up with anything, she asked, "What are you, exactly?"

Bea barked out a laugh. Oh yeah, she had already asked him that, hadn't she? "Well, that's easy, I'm a shinigami." He replied without blinking his large eyes.

"A death god?" Sakura repeated incredulously, leaning forward.

Said god of death nodded. "I was just on my merry way when I saw you fighting that dark haired human kid." He explained. "Then I followed you here."

Sakura went silent as she thought over his words. He had followed her here? Had he watched her kill Sasuke, then?

Bea shrugged indifferently, seeming to pick up on her train of thought. "So, what if I saw? I know you didn't mean it."

Didn't mean it? Horror reflected in Sakura's eyes at the comment. Of course she had meant it! What kind of person kills and then doesn't mean to do it? She was awful; more so a true murderer than any shinobi could ever feel ashamed to be. Sasuke might have deserved a lot of things; a lot of things he certainly wasn't getting back in the village. The way he'd been welcomed him so openly should have been a miracle and a relief. Many times over the past few years she had awoke, crying and short of breath from nightmares of the last Uchiha survivor crawling home with an inch of his life only to be dragged away from his mourning team mates to his execution. She feared his return, and she longed for it too. She should have been there at the front lines of the crowd beside Naruto, ready to greet him and thank kami for his return.

Where had those foreign and murderous feelings come from? Why had this wonderful day suddenly turned into another nightmare?

Placing a hand on her wounded abdomen, Sakura realized for the first time since coming to that she was no longer...dying.

Bea chuckled, now perched on a branch in the tree above her. She tilted her head up and fixed him with a curious look, too startled by the derail of her thoughts to say anything. The pain in her stomach had ebbed to a dull sensation, but she was losing a worrying amount of blood. While Inner Sakura shrieked inside her mind at the sight of blood leaving her body so fast, her eyes flicked back up to the death god and wondered.

_...Why_ _am_ _I_ _not_ _dead yet?_

Bea read the question in those green orbs and smirked down at the girl. "I've suspended your death temporarily. If you decide to come with me, you can have the remainder of your life in the world that I choose to place you in, and your 'dead end', shall we say, will be removed and reset to another date."

"Another date?" The kunoichi lifted a pink brow at the vague explanation. "Like what? Tomorrow? Next week? A month from now?"

Bea shrugged and broke a small branch off the tree and poked it between his jagged teeth. "Dunno. You can find out for yourself, or, you can stay here, and—" He clutched his hands over his chest and feigned tumbling out of the tree, the backs of his knees hooking under the branch he'd once been sitting on. He grinned cattily at her, twig hanging from his mouth and his white hair sweeping the grass below. "Y'know. Your choice..."

Sakura almost laughed at the creature's crude gesture. She had a choice, it said? The ANBU that were wandering around after being alerted to her and Sasuke's location during the fight had most likely already found Sasuke's body. By now, she concluded that they must have gathered people who had witnessed her angry disappearance from the center of the village earlier, and, if no one had seen Sasuke sneak through the crowd to go after her, the craters in the earth at the scene of their finale would certainly serve as some indication. After putting two and two together (it was only a matter of time), they would continue to search for her, and when they eventually found her, they most likely had orders to kill her, or worse...

But...Fear settled in the pit of Sakura's stomach and she swallowed thickly, her throat feeling dry. "...I can't go with you."

Bea lifted an eyebrow. Somehow, he wasn't expecting to hear that. "Oh?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, I'm sorry...shinigami. It's an interesting offer, but my place is here. I've committed an awful crime and it would be dishonorable to my village if I didn't face the consequences."

"Hm." Bea grunted. He hopped down from the tree and landed in mid air an inch above the ground. "How admirable of you, Sakura." He said, walk-floating past her. She didn't think to ask how he knew her name. "Well, if that's how you feel, then I'm afraid I'll have to leave." He fingered the dangling black lightning charm pinned into his left ear, and then dug around the pockets of his baggy black jeans as if he were looking for something. Sakura strangely felt almost disappointed when he produced nothing. "Once I leave, the time of your death will speed back up with you. I'm sorry about that, really." The death god continued with a grin that told her he didn't feel too sorry at all.

Sakura just nodded once and then watched as a swirling white portal expanded before them. Suddenly, she called out to him. "Sakura! Um...that's my name." She explained, almost sheepishly. "Maybe we'll...meet again sometime."

Bea's shoulders tensed and then he let them fall slowly. "That's unlikely." Was all he said, stuffing one hand into his pocket and the other to fist at the front of his platinum hair. After a few seconds of debating, he made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat and grumbled,

"Tch. Bea."

He knew he never should have come here. He had gotten his hopes high just by discovering her, and then when he decided to speak to her, he couldn't help but feel a strange sort of appreciation for her. She was sassy, brave and also seemed to be rather intelligent. Not only that, but she was phenomenally strong and ridiculously loyal to her home. She could have escaped death easily through this unlikely chance, but instead she had chosen mortality's final judgement.

Bea sighed and allowed his body to quickly melt into the portal. Sakura watched him leave and the let out a slow breath. She honestly didn't think she was going to last long if ANBU didn't hurry up and get their asses over here. Her eyes roved over the forest, counting the number of weapons lying on the ground, trying to distract herself from the returning pain that seemed to intensify with each passing second.

That's when she saw it.

It didn't catch her eye at first, as it was nestled beneath the leaves. The front cover scrawled with strange white lettering was hard to miss the second time. Crawling from her place under the tree, the kunoichi reached out and grabbed the book off the ground.

"Death...Note?" She read the awkwardly written words aloud. What the hell is this? She stared up at the silvery portal, which was slowly beginning to close. Had Bea dropped this book? She recalled him rummaging around in his pockets...

**Well,** Inner chimed in, **where else could it have come from?**

Sakura gripped the strange little black book in her hands and called out, "Bea!"

Then she waited. No answer.

Her eyes traveled back to the silvery abyss, and she looked around before stumbling to her feet and taking a cautious step forward. She could just toss it in, right?

Her other persona gave a dark chuckle, which she chose to ignore for the sake of her shaking nerves.

**Something tells me it isn't going to be that easy.** **..**

Timidly, the roseate haired nin lifted the book in both hands towards the portal, as if offering it some sort of sacrifice with the hope of it not swallowing her along with it. The portal gave a small, tentative tug, to which she automatically let go and then watched it begin to close up.

Sakura let out a relieved sigh.

Oh, good.

Wheeling herself around, she began making her way back when she felt a rough hand place itself on her shoulder and pull. Her mouth didn't even have a chance to fall open for a surprised scream. The next thing she knew, she was flying backward, her arms and legs flailing before her as the world she knew began to grow smaller and smaller...

* * *


	3. Interception

She felt herself falling for only a brief moment, and then something cold and solid abruptly slammed up against her head and back.

At first, it felt like metal...but, as she tried to sit up, she realized that didn't explain the shards of glass in her hair. As her senses, dulled from her sudden crash-landing gradually returned, the pinkette began to realize many more things at once.

First, she had an incredible headache; actually, it was more likely a concussion, if the waves of fatigue and dizziness slowly coming over her were anything to go by.

Second, it was really loud. Like, _really_ loud.

Frightening, machine-like roars made by odd, box-shaped contraptions on wheels raced around her, accompanied by the occasional, equally disturbing honk of a horn or the earsplitting squeal of rubber burning against pavement. There were voices, too. Most were distant, while some sounded closer than others. There was one screaming rather loudly at her right now somewhere on her right, but she decided to ignore that for the moment, because realization number three summed up all her worries into one:

Sakura had no idea where she was, but it certainly wasn't Konoha.

Ignoring the sparks of pain that lanced through her limbs as she gingerly tried to move, the kunoichi slid off the front end of the strange metal machine. Her feet touched solid ground, but when she glanced down, it was not the the dirt road she expected to see.

**The ground is made of rock...?** Inner shared her confusion. Sakura gave the smooth blacktop a tentative tap with the toe of her shoe just to confirm this.

Yup, solid rock.

Sakura couldn't figure out what advantages there possibly were to creating such a thing, (In fact, it seemed dangerous! How did the children play on this kind of street?) but this wasn't her world. She had no business judging how they constructed their land.

Whatever land this was...

Groaning in pain, Sakura began to brush the dirt and glass from her person when a rough pair of hands shot out and grabbed her shoulders. Gasping in surprise, the kunoichi tensed, curling her fists as she was spun toward her assaulter.

"Hey, you little bitch! Where do you think you're going after wrecking my car, huh?" A man in a business suit demanded angrily. Sakura blinked at him and then glared.

"What are you..." she began heatedly, having no idea what he was talking about. Then, her eyes turned to the metal box she had fallen on earlier. There was a sizable Sakura dent imprinted on the front, and pieces of glass from the windows littered the road.

"Oh..." Sakura muttered softly, going pale.

**Oh** Inner repeated, even more quietly.

So, she'd ruined this guy's metal box.

"Oh?" The foreign man's grip tightened harshly around Sakura's arms, drawing her attention back. "OH? This car cost me my entire vacation! You're gonna pay for it!"

Sakura swallowed nervously as she watched his face twist in anger and took a stumbling step back. Terrified and shaking, the kunoichi pried his hands away from her body while muttering an apology at the same time. As soon as she was free, she hopped onto the rear of the nearest 'car' and shot herself across the street. Metal boxes swerved and honked as she made her way around them in slowly collecting chaos.

She didn't know where she was going, but she needed to get out of here.

_Now_.

* * *

 

"Fire country...Ha ha, is that really a country?"

Hearing the same response for the twentieth time in the last hour made Sakura's stomach clench in a sick way and her skin break into a cold sweat. The dark-haired woman with the baby stroller seemed to notice her distress and frowned worriedly. "Honey, maybe you should visit a doctor. That bump on your head looks serious," she told Sakura, tentatively reaching a hand toward the girl's forehead. "Did you fall somewhere?"

The pinkette took a small step away, not wanting to be touched, but smiled politely. "Ah, this?" she lifted her pink bangs and placed her fingers against the large bump. "It's just a bump. Though...I probably do have a concussion, so I might need to visit a hospital soon. Luckily, I just happen to be a medical ninja. No need to worry, but thank you for your conc...ern?"

Sakura glanced up just in time to see the woman quickly walking away, pushing the baby stroller around the corner as fast as possible.

_Geez, not another one..._ The roseate-haired girl frowned as she watched the woman leave. Now, what the hell was _her_ problem?

**Who cares?** Inner commented flippantly, having clearly shown she had no interest in anything that had to do with this place long before Sakura's search began. **She was completely uninformative—seriously, even if they're normal civilians, how do these people not know anything about the Land of Fire? Let alone Konoha! It really _is_ like we're in another world...  
**

Groaning, Sakura ignored her other persona and leaned her hip against the brick wall of one of the busy street's towering buildings. Releasing a breath through her nose, she speared her fingers through her messy hair and fought against the urge to close her eyes. Really, her condition was a lot worse than she'd let on. The minor bruises and cuts, she could deal with, but the throbbing pressure in her head was slowly building up and she knew it was only a matter of time before she passed out. Her chakra reserves were slowly recovering, but right now, she barely had enough to put a sizable hole through the bottom of a ship.

_All this running around, and all I've figured out so far is that I'm in the Kanto region of a country called Japan..._

Unsure what else she could do, Sakura decided to continue her search for answers. According to an older man she'd met earlier, there was a hospital located just a few blocks from here on a street named Dianthus.

Hopefully, their medical practices weren't too different from Konoha's...

Sakura got about as far as a foot off the sidewalk, when she heard someone call out behind her. Bracing herself for another assault, she fired her chakra into her hands and turned around.

"Excuse me, Miss."

Two men in formal looking uniforms approached her on either side, each wearing extremely stern looks.

Great, she thought. What had she done now?

"Um...Is there a problem?" Sakura asked carefully, picking at the hem of her bright red shirt.

The tallest of the two men grabbed her wrists in front of her and snapped something cold and tight over them, while the other began talking into what appeared to be a radio.

**Handcuffs!** Inner screeched. Sakura's mouth fell open in shock. She'd just been handcuffed!

"Yes, actually," the man replied, firmly turning her away and steering her back onto the sidewalk. "You're under arrest for mass disruption of traffic."

* * *

In all her life, Sakura had only been arrested once.

However, even now—thanks to her Hokage's generosity—there was no proof that the event had even taken place.

It was all a misunderstanding, really; just like right now. A simple mission to Mist where she was to personally deliver a message to the Godaime Mizukage. As the Hokage's most travel-active apprentice, Sakura had become somewhat of an ambassador—a narrow bridge between the two distant countries when it was decided they could benefit from the others' uncommon resources. Though they weren't in an enemy relationship or an alliance, Fire and Water had agreed to trade overseas on the agreement that they would perform together on an equilateral barter.

The two would be completely neutral toward each other, aside from that exception. For a while, it seemed things would work out without any problems.

That's why, when Sakura had arrived at the village of Mist with the intention of delivering her missive to the administrative building, she had been completely shocked when the guards at the gates had accused her of attempting an assault on their home and arrested her on the spot.

After being thrown into Kiri's prison (a lovely little underground must-stinking cave containing criminals who had committed crimes of every letter of the alphabet) for an unfun thirteen hours while everything was being sorted, the Mizukage eventually came to meet her and apologize for, "the little misunderstanding."

As an extension to her apology, the auburn haired woman even invited Sakura to dinner while they discussed the progress of the current trade system between their respective countries. When the pinkette casually asked what became of the two confused guards keeping watch at the gate outside the village, Terumi Mei had simply smiled in her quaint, pretty way and softly related that they would not be seeing the light of the sun any time soon.

Now, as Sakura sat in the cramped back seat of the leisurely moving vehicle she learned was called a 'police car', she feared a similar fate.

The officers told Sakura her 'rights'—which did not, to her surprise, deviate too far from those that citizens of Konoha, or even Mist had the privilege to. Then, they had shoved her inside and slammed the door. Where they were headed now wasn't too much of a mystery, unless she wanted to pretend.

Well, they said she could have an attorney. One would even be provided for her if she couldn't obtain one on her own. While everything else about this place still disturbed and confused her, Sakura could at least feel comfortable in knowing that things were handled in a civil manner around here.

_Still_ , she thought, twisting her body a little so that she could stare out the window to watch the other cars passing by. The chain connecting her restraints jangled together against her lap as she moved.

_'So, Miss...'_

_'Sakura.'_

_'Yes...Miss_ Sakura _. Care to explain why you wrecked our village?'_

_'Well, you see, your Honor. I was spirited away here from another world on the verge of death by this wickedly clever shinigami...'_

Sakura threw her head back and quietly laughed. Yeah, she could totally see _that_ story going over well in court.

Another voice joined in the kunoichi's twisted amusement, and one glance toward the rear view mirror told her it hadn't come from the two men in the front seat.

Sakura wrenched her body around with her cuffed hands jingling in front of her and almost _died_.

Seated comfortably on the other side of the backseat, was Bea.

"You—!" she exclaimed, and then immediately slapped her hands over her mouth. The officers each gave her a skeptical glance over their shoulders, and then turned their attention back to their conversation and the road. They probably already thought she was nuts, with the way she'd squirmed and screamed (after patting her down and removing all her weapons. At that time, Sakura could hardly keep the amusement off her face when they discovered most of the weapons she kept on her person) when they tossed her into the car, but she wasn't trying to make things worse for herself. Slumping against the door of the vehicle as she waited for her heart to stop hammering against her ribs, Sakura scowled at the shinigami until she recovered her ability to speak.

"You!" she hissed vehemently, pointing an accusing finger at it—him?

"Hi ya."

" _Not_ 'hi ya'. What the hell have you done?" Sakura demanded. "Where am I?"

With an unnatural, cringe-worthy tilt of his head, the self-proclaimed shinigami simply sat back and stared at her, sitting cross-legged while apparently chewing on something. The sight was so disturbing that, had she not been so absorbed in her fury, she would have been really creeped out. When it looked like she wasn't going to receive an answer, Sakura grunted in frustration and fell back against the door again. She would go back to counting how many people she saw walking their pet, and try to rest her mind.

If she was lucky, she would fall asleep and when she woke up this would all just be a horrible dream...

She was up to four people and a guy walking something that looked suspiciously like a wolf on her pet count, when Bea finally decided to speak.

"You know, wildcat..." he began, and the kunoichi simultaneously shot him a warning glare. There was a tearing sound, and then Sakura noticed the briefcase lying open on the black leather seat between them filled with papers. Bea was going to the meticulous task of carefully tearing apart each paper into fine strips and stuffing them into his mouth, one by one.

Sakura gaped at him, disbelieving.

Bea blinked his big, wine-colored eyes and stared at her baldly. Whatever he had to say was apparently forgotten once he noticed she was looking at him. "What?" he asked, and she swore he sounded offended.

This thing that supposedly only _she_ could see was devouring what appeared to be some kind of important documents like they were freaking spaghetti noodles inside a police car, and it wanted to know _what_.

Sakura foresaw a lot of trouble in her immediate future.

Propping her legs up across the seat while Bea shoved his head not out, but right _through_ the opposite window, the roseate nin picked up a piece of paper, crushed it and tossed it at the shinigami's head with both hands.

"Get lost. I hate you."

Bea arched himself backwards at an impossible angle to catch the balled up paper in his mouth. He stared at Sakura as he gulped it down with glowing red eyes and an upside down grin that would easily frighten small children.

"I don't care about your hate, wildcat," he claimed, grabbing his lips and wagging an orange tongue at her mockingly. "Enjoy the ride, though. You and me, starting now, I think we're gonna have a lot of fun."

* * *

 

This was _not_ Sakura's idea of fun.

Since they arrived at the station, Bea seemed to be doing everything in his supernatural power to ensure her arrest process was as humiliating and difficult as possible. First, he had tripped her over while her officers were helping her out of the car. She had embarrassed herself by stumbling into the chest of the slighter one (who, as it turned out, was actually the most intimidating of the two) which only made Bea cackle like some kind of deranged hyena.

Then, as the taller one went to close the door behind her—officer Suisei, his name badge said, or _Officer Bedhead_ , she liked to call him—discovered the confetti party in the backseat. Surprisingly, neither one said anything about it to her it, but there was an intense moment where she was sure one of them was going to smack her across the face. Whether it was because she seemed defenseless and female, or the civil law here was simply that strict, Sakura considered herself lucky. Had these been Konoha ANBU escorting her to jail, things would have been a lot different.

The two officers dropped her off at a detention center after questioning her and receiving no response. At first, Sakura wasn't sure if she should say anything at all. Back in Konoha, she'd assisted in many interrogations as a medic when criminals refused to talk. She wasn't sure how Japan, or this Kanto handled their tight-lipped suspects, but so far, they had shown her more mercy than her own home ever would have. After a few hours of sitting in an iron-barred cell she could have easily broken out of (but decided against; maybe a few hours of confinement was what she really needed to process everything that was happening to her) a man came to let her out for more questioning. This time, the kunoichi willingly agreed. Thanks to Bea and his endless shenanigans, everyone already thought she was a nuttier than a fruitcake, so Sakura assumed things couldn't get any worse than they already were.

Later, it would turn out that she was very wrong.

The new officer, gruff and much older than her last two snapped her restraints on once more after unlocking her cell, and then she was escorted to a dimly lit, soundproof room with a single window. Bea floated down the hall with them until the moment she entered and took her seat, hover-gliding between her and her jailor like some kind of acrobatic phantom. Sakura dutifully ignored him when she wasn't occupied with the infuriatingly difficult task of trying not to laugh.

When the interrogation began, 'Officer Bedhead' made a surprise appearance. He pulled up a chair at the opposite side of the small table and took a seat in front of her. Sakura took a moment to appreciate the fact that the man who would be questioning her was not the other, scarier officer.

Officer Suisei leaned forward with his elbows resting on the table, offering her a kind tilt of his lips. Sakura figured he was no older than thirty. His short ebony hair was sleek and wild, set in slightly curled wisps around his head. His eyes, an unusual shade of pale blue, crinkled when he smiled, and it troubled her heart like a physical pain. For the first time since she wound up here, Sakura was reminded of someone from home.

She wondered what her genin sensei was doing at this very moment...

"Young lady," Suisei spoke, his voice a medium tenor. "Will you please tell me your name?"

The medic nin shifted in her chair uneasily as the dark haired man reached into his pocket for a pen and notepad, but eventually nodded. "Yes...My name is Haruno Sakura."

Suisei nodded more to himself and wrote what she assumed to be her name inside the notepad. When he was finished, he glanced up at her with a pleasant smile. "Sakura. That's a nice name," he told her.

Sakura decidedly said nothing to this. Instead, she focused on the small silver ring resting at the top of his ear.

Suisei cleared his throat over the awkward moment. "A-anyway. Sakura, are you a citizen of the Kanto region?"

The kunoichi shook her head.

The officer's brows furrowed with a short frown. For whatever reason, this seemed to intrigue him. "Really? Where are you from?"

Sakura glanced at Bea who was sitting off in one corner of the room and pressed her lips together, preventing a scowl before it could happen. Suisei studied her closely and followed her eyes, but naturally, found nothing.

Shrugging her shoulders and giving up, the pastel haired girl looked back at her interrogator. "Konohagakure," she answered simply.

Suisei's eyebrows nearly rose to his hairline. The hesitancy in his voice suggested he thought she was joking—not that she wasn't expecting this—but professionalism required him to be serious. "Konoha...gakure?" he scratched at the faint amount of dark stubble on his chin. "Like...'Leaf Village'?"

Again, Sakura nodded.

"Huh...Never heard of it. May I ask where it's located?"

The kunoichi bit her lip and averted her eyes; she still couldn't believe this. "...It's located inside of Fire country." She said quietly.

Suisei stared at her for a long moment before going to scribble something down in his notebook, and this time, Sakura wasn't so sure it was the name of her home. When he looked at her again, she couldn't help but notice that his eyes were a little less kind.

"Alright...next question. What were you doing in the middle of traffic? I was told by a man involved in the traffic jam that somehow you fell onto his car. Is that what happened?"

_Was_ that what happened? She really wasn't sure. Fleeing from the scene had turned out to be a bad idea after all, but at that time, it was all she could do just to find a way to pull herself together. When she'd been yanked through that portal in the forest back in Konoha, she had no idea what she would be facing on the other side.

"It was...because of that book..." Sakura mumbled softly to herself, suddenly feeling unsure.

Suisei's eyes narrowed at her moving lips. He tilted his head as she spoke, but her words were too quiet to hear.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" he asked, leaning closer.

Almost instantly, the kunoichi snapped upright and scooted back in her chair. Set on high alert, she tried to bring her hands up, but they all but banged against the underside of the table.

Suisei blinked at her with wide, blue-grey eyes and then slowly settled back in his chair, looking apologetic.

I, uh..." Sakura licked her lips, forcing herself to focus. "I don't exactly remember everything. One minute I was in a forest just outside my village, and then this..." she paused and cast a pointed glare toward Bea without realizing, "this _thing_ appeared and brought me here."

Bea's only response to this seemed to be shoving a talon-like pinky finger into his left ear and digging around obscenely.

Officer Suisei watched the heavy disgust take over her features, and that was probably around the time when he seriously began questioning her mental state.

"Um, about this thing...?" He prompted, clicking his pen in an impatient pattern.

In that moment, Sakura decided to abandon the idea of any pretense and just be blunt with her response. Leaning forward as Bea loomed over the officer with his claws above his head, the kunoichi propped her elbow on the table and set her chin against her palm.

Looking the officer dead in the eye, she said, "It was a shinigami." _  
_


	4. Busy Signal

Not long after that, it was confirmed by her interrogator that Sakura was completely bonkers.

Suisei had asked her a few more questions (one requiring an explanation about the weapons they had confiscated during her arrest, to which she told the truth; at this point, it seemed like any response would do, but Sakura had already decided she would be honest) such as her age, the name of the hospital she was born in, if she had any existing relatives and then she was brought to her cell to be dealt with later.

It was around six o'clock—she estimated the time by remembering the clock on the wall in the interrogation room—when she was brought out for dinner. Sakura chose to sit in the far corner of the detention center's spacious cafeteria, away from the other women. She finished the bland dish of curry udon without really tasting it while listlessly taking in her surroundings.

If anything, the food seemed to be helping her gradually fading headache. Additionally, she had taken a short nap on the ratty cot inside her prison and now her chakra was almost completely recovered. Soon, she would be able to heal the bruises on her arms and legs, and maybe, if she was feeling up to it, plot her escape.

A body suddenly slid into the seat across from her at the table.

"Hey, Pinky."

Sakura carefully set her spoon down inside her bowl and looked up to see a girl leaning over the table, smiling back at her sweetly. She was petite, with keen, blue eyes and a red bandanna around her neck. Her short blond hair was cut in a bob fashion that complimented her adorable face.

Her disarming appearance was just about the only 'adorable' thing she had going for her, Sakura would soon learn.

"Um...hello?" A frown darkened Sakura's face; suffice to say, she didn't appreciate the nickname.

"I'm Reem." The little blonde tapped her chipped, yellow-polished nails on the dining table and tilted her head inquisitively. "Who are you?"

Sakura answered while Reem went about examining her rough manicure. "I'm Sakura," she said.

"I think I like Pinky better," Reem commented, almost immediately. "Has a nice ring to it, yeah?"

Sakura set her jaw and glared; no, she couldn't really say she agreed.

The roseate nin picked up her tray and tried to leave, but two large hands slammed down on her shoulders and forced her back into her seat. Alarmed, the kunoichi looked up to see several other women steadily surrounding the table, smirking and closing her in. An acute jolt of panic zipped up the length of Sakura's spine. With narrowing, verdant eyes, she turned her head toward Reem who was now openly sneering at her.

"Listen, _Pinky_." The blonde nudged Sakura's ankle with her foot underneath the table and smiled, folding her hands delicately beneath her chin. "You're new here, so we need to welcome you with a special initiation, okay?"

"An initiation?" Sakura repeated. She looked around at the intimidating group of women again and saw that all of them were either holding an empty lunch tray or some type of eating utensil. Whatever this initiation entailed, she had a feeling she wasn't going to like it.

The towering, dark-haired woman holding her shoulders down gave a deep, nasally chuckle at her clueless response.

"Yeah," Reem said, and it sounded about as innocent as a reply to a comment about pleasant weather. The blonde tilted her head and nodded to the other women.

All at once, they grinned, lifted their kitchen ware and stalked forward.

* * *

Sotomoto Suisei sighed heavily and smacked his head against his desk, groaning in utter defeat. The shredded up papers cluttering his desk fluttered in response and sailed to the floor, but he didn't bother picking them up, because right now, he was in a _really_ crappy mood.

Usually, a freshly brewed cup of perfect peach tea or a smoke was enough to cure any amount of stress he was suffering, at least for a while, but nothing was working.

Everything was going wrong today.

To start with, there was the huge traffic accident on Anise. At least twenty cars had been wrecked in the pileup, and some people were seriously injured and hospitalized. Miraculously, no one had died, but much road work was needed to fix what had been damaged, and a lot of paperwork would need to be done. After speaking with a construction worker, he estimated that the entire intersection would have to be closed off for at least a week and a half. This was unsettling news, because Anise was a busy street and was one of the easier routes many people in the area took to get to work.

Then, there was the confetti party he'd found in the back seat of the police car after he and his partner had picked up that girl. Arthur had left him to take the blame, saying it was his fault for leaving the suitcase back there in the first place—which, he admittedly couldn't argue with, because it kind of _was_ —so, now he was left to sort out the mess _and_ deal with the boss.

Lastly, there was the little terror herself.

 _Sakura_. Haruno Sakura.

After their recent discussion, he had performed a thorough background check on the mysterious girl, but came up with absolutely nothing. At first, he wondered if she had given him a false name. Sakura Haruno was quite a poetic name, after all—well, at least, in his opinion. It might have been made up.

The girl had _pink hair_ , after all.

 _And_ —wait for it—she believed she'd been spirited away into another world by a shinigami! Apparently, it had also eaten the documents in the briefcase for some reason she couldn't explain.

If that wasn't weird enough, when he had asked her about the suspicious-looking weapons they'd found hidden on her, she'd easily informed them that it was because she was a _ninja_. She had looked so completely serious about it, the officer almost wanted to believe her...

Almost.

Suisei laughed to himself dazedly with his cheek smushed against his desk.

 _Oh, man..._ he thought, sobering to misery. The guys were going to laugh themselves into an early grave once they read his report. This was one case he would never live down.

The door to Suisei's small office swung open and closed abruptly. Not bothering to greet his visitor (as he already had a good idea of who it was) the officer just moaned, shuffled the papers around on his desk in careless waves with his hands and grumbled irritably. "You know..." he started, glaring at a random corner of paper beneath his face, "there's a _reason_ why there's a sign on my door that says, 'Please knock before entering'."

"I did," said a voice, matter-of-factually." A hand grabbed the back of his messy hair and yanked his head off the table. "Apparently, you were too caught up in your little mess to hear it." More important documents swayed off the desk, and Suisei watched them float around seemingly without care. One of them landed over a silver frame sitting at the front of his desk. The photo inside the frame depicted a woman and small girl who looked back at him while hugging and wearing bright, happy smiles.

Frowning and turning his head, Suisei peered up into the wizened face of his partner, Arthur Quinn.

"What is it?" he asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

Hard, green eyes stared back at him, expressing disappointment. Arthur gestured toward the mess on the floor. "Son, what the hell are you doing in here? I asked you to bring me that report on the Haruno girl an hour ago. I need to sign it too, in case you forgot." He sighed and scratched his head of short, brown-grey hair while looking around the chaotic room.

Suisei blinked and then nodded his head after a moment. "Sorry, you're right." He apologized. "I've got it right here, hold on." He scooted back in his chair and began rifling around his desk, looking for the report he'd just finished about five minutes ago. A few seconds later, he came up with the a sheet of paper and handed it to his partner, along with a pen.

Arthur took a seat opposite Suisei's side of the desk, sighing over the creaking sounds it made. After he read and signed the document, he slid it back toward the other officer and then leaned back in his chair, folding his hands on top of the desk. Silence reigned for a while, but Suisei had a bad feeling about the way the man was lingering.

"You know, kid..." Arthur began, his usual gruff sounding softer than usual. Suisei lifted his blue eyes from the signed paper. He recognized that tone and looked away with a bored pretense, already knowing where the conversation was going. He had noticed the way his partner's expression changed after going over his report.

"She was what, maybe twenty?" He heard Arthur scratching his chin.

"She seemed a little younger than that..." Suisei replied carefully, keeping his tone level. He felt Arthur studying him, and began busying himself with slowly collecting the papers on the floor around his office. They were scattered everywhere. It was going to take him a while to tape what he could back together, and sort them all into the correct order again. "But, she said she was twenty-two."

"Twenty-two is past the legal age, Suisei." Arthur responded quietly from the other side of the room, and it sounded like the beginning of an argument he'd been through at least a hundred times. Pausing with a stack of papers in his hand, the young agent focused his vision on the bookcase in front of him. There was a familiar, bitter taste settling in the back of his throat and it clenched uncomfortably when he tried to swallow.

He _really_ didn't want to have this conversation; not today.

"...People make mistakes, Arthur. I don't think she meant to hurt anyone." He said slowly. Sure, Haruno Sakura seemed a little...out there. Before taking her to the detention center, she'd been taken to the jail's clinic to check for head trauma, but the doctor had confirmed that she was alright, aside from some bruising. After speaking with her, however, he began to wonder if there really was something wrong with her head, after all.

Suisei heard a series of creaks, indicating that Arthur had stood up from his chair. He glanced over his shoulder as he gathered more papers, and saw his partner standing on the other side of his desk with a picture frame in his hand.

"Arthur..." Suisei's breath caught in his throat. He swallowed uncomfortably as their eyes met, and he looked away. No matter what he did, those words would find him, anyway...

Those words Arthur would always say.

"It's our job to guide those who have done wrong into correcting those mistakes," Arthur said.

Suisei stilled, listening.

"Whether a loved one, or a stranger. The law is justice, and those who do wrong should be reminded of that."

Suisei's arms tightened around the bundle of papers in his arms. The bookcase in front of him was vividly clear, but when he closed his eyes, all he could imagine was the silver glint of handcuffs and a little girl's smile. The sound of begging and hoarse screaming pained his ears and memory.

"Do you agree with me? Suisei."

Pale blue eyes turned downcast, reflecting uncertainty. "I..." the young officer began to reply softly.

The door to his office slammed open then, interrupting his response. "Sotomoto! Quinn! There's trouble!"

Both partners looked up in surprise. Arthur walked around the desk, straightening his uniform. "What is it?" he asked the reporting officer, Junpei. Suisei moved back to his desk and placed the stack of collected papers on top of it.

"It's that girl, Haruno Sakura." Junpei explained, his words coming out in a rushed breath. Arthur and Suisei exchanged startled looks.

"What's wrong with her?" Suisei was the one to ask.

Junpei quickly shook his head, looking pale. "It's a nightmare," he said, taking a retreating step from the room. "Just...just hurry up. I'll explain on the way."

* * *

Sakura smashed her fist through the first tray that came toward her head.

There was a brief moment of startled silence and enraged gasps, and she took advantage of it without preamble. Channeling chakra through her legs, she kicked the table over and then forcefully escaped through the wall of ill-intentioned inmates, knocking several chairs over and out of her way in the process. As her feet pounded fast against the sleek floor of the cafeteria, she could hear the other women running after her. The jailers supervising the dining area from the corner of the room finally seemed to notice the commotion and joined in the chase.

Sakura slid to a halt as they came toward her and turned on her heel, narrowly avoiding a violent bear hug and two pairs of authoritative hands. She didn't care if she had to get arrested all over again—she wouldn't be participating in _this_ initiation. She stopped long enough to quickly glance around and count all the exits in the room. She was afraid they might be locked, but with all the leniency this place apparently allowed, that probably wasn't the case.

_One. Two._

There were only two exits in the room; one toward the back on the right, (where the guards had come running) which was actually the entrance, and one up front near the kitchen, which Sakura figured was probably the back way to a disposal site of some sort—

"Over here, you clown-lookin' _skank_!"

Sakura paused and looked forward in time to see a fist come crashing against her face. Stunned by the collision, she reeled back, clutching her jaw as it exploded with pain.

 _Damn it!_ she cursed inwardly, glaring and leaping out of the way as Reem swung at her again for another sucker punch. She could already feel her face beginning to swell. Another woman came at her and tried to stab her in the leg with a dirty fork as she easily hopped on one of the small, round tables along the wall near the back of the room. The kunoichi kicked the woman square in the chest, sending her flying away, and steadied herself there for a moment until Reem dove in to knock it off balance, and then sprung to the next.

When Sakura reached the longer, bench-like seating arrangements in the center of the café, it was like a scrambling chase. She jumped from table to table, leaving the other women behind to try and catch up with her. Silverware clattered as it was slipped on or kicked out of the way, and plates and dishes were sent crashing to the ground.

Somewhere along the way, a one-sided food fight broke out. When Sakura ran across the length of one of the tables, nearing the front of the cafeteria, a stray bowl of udon came out of nowhere and splattered right in front of her. Yelling out in surprise, the pinkette tried to halt her speeding pace by altering her footing, but ended up tripping over her legs instead.

A chorus of jeering laughter echoed throughout the cafeteria as Sakura tumbled over and noodle-dived off the table on her stomach, crashing into a food-stained mess on the floor.

As soon as her body hit the cool tile, she felt two pairs of hands grab her up.

"No!" the pinkette screamed in alarm, wrenching around wildly, only to find the jailers had finally caught up. She reached around to jab the guard on her right in the face with a chakra-laced fist, and the bones in her elbow sparked with protest. Immense pain dotted her vision, bringing tears to her eyes.

Sakura slumped her back against the chest of the second officer with a silent cry of defeat, watching as a third officer herded away the other women as she felt the cold steel of handcuffs click around her wrists in front of her. She was then turned around and guided out of the cafeteria.

And, it was just for a moment—just for the smallest flicker of a second—but she was sure she saw it in the midst of her delirium. As she was pushed through doors and led out into the hall, Sakura swore she saw Bea perched at the end of a table, waving a clawed hand and grinning back at her.

* * *

Sakura felt like she was slowly going insane.

As her jailers escorted her down the hall, she began to wonder why she hadn't taken it upon herself to escape yet.

Maybe it was because she knew she really _deserved_ to be in a place like this.

Crooks, offenders, traitors...People like _her_ —people who killed their loved ones in cold blood—they deserved this kind of treatment, if not to a greater degree.

"Sasuke..." Sakura whispered brokenly as confused tears slid down her face. She dropped her head and stared at the linoleum floor as it passed beneath her feet. Even if she tried to recall what had happened, she couldn't understand herself; couldn't understand the reason behind her own actions. The more she thought about it, the harder it felt to remember. All of it seemed like a hole in her mind; like a big, violent blur.

The worst of it was that she wasn't even home to atone for her crime. Though it pained her well enough, she could only imagine the severe disappointment on her mentor's face, or the shocked hurt in her best friend's eyes, mixed with slowly waning disbelief. Her mind could only fabricate the confused and disapproving looks from Kakashi, or the distance he'd place between them; only fantasize the angry words from others slung towards her.

It felt as though she had been whisked away simply for the purpose of experiencing something frightening and unusual _,_ where she would be abandoned to rot and despair. _  
_

But even this didn't feel like a proper punishment.

Sakura was let into a room by herself, where she was made to wait until someone came to meet her. For her luck, the two officers that had picked her off the street showed up. When Officer Bedhead saw her ragged and food-stained appearance and her swollen jaw, it looked like he'd swallowed a bug. The other man, Quinn, didn't look too happy either.

Quinn dismissed the guard at the door, and he looked relieved just to leave the room.

"Haruno," the older man sighed, leaning against the door.

Sakura said nothing and simply stared at the wall.

Attempting to try a different approach than his partner, Suisei moved toward the center of the room and settled into a crouch in front of the pink-haired girl. "Hey, Sakura." He called softly, lifting his sunglasses onto his head to reveal his light blue eyes and tilting his head toward her turned away face. "It's Suisei. Do you remember me?"

"Suisei," Arthur scolded, crossing his arms. "She's _not_ a child, and we aren't therapists. This _woman_ is a—"

Suisei shot his partner a warning look, sending him into grudging silence.

"I remember you." Sakura said quietly, earning each mans' attention. A smile lit Suisei's face at the encouraging response and he stuck his tongue out teasingly at Arthur, to which the elder officer just rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Sakura," Suisei continued, pointedly choosing to ignore his partner. "Can you tell us what happened in the cafeteria?"

The medic nin met eyes with the dark-haired man and stared, crossing her arms over her chest. What was there to tell, exactly? She'd escaped a low-brow beat down disguised as an initiation by her _lovely_ female inmates?

"I failed my jail inauguration," Sakura answered flatly.

"Inauguration?" Suisei blinked confusedly.

Arthur sighed impatiently from his side of the room, sliding his hands into his pockets. "The other inmates tried to beat her up," he surmised.

"Oh..." the younger partner said softly, a concerned frown curving his lips downward. "So, you were trying to run away?"

Sakura nodded her head.

Suisei looked up at his partner for a moment, then sat back on his heels and rose to full height. "Um, Sakura...We still have some questions about what happened on the street yesterday before we can start filing paperwork in order to release you."

"You're going to release me?" the kunoichi lifted her face, looking interested in the conversation for the first time.

Officer Sotomoto withdrew a box of cigarettes from his shirt pocket and tapped out a single stick. He placed it in the corner of his mouth and began searching for what Sakura assumed was a lighter. "Well, yeah. Technically, your crime wasn't that severe. You did uphold a lot of traffic and cause a lot of accidents, but no one was killed," he explained, finding and flicking a green, tube-like instrument. Sakura watched the flame ignite and burn the tip of the cigarette until it glowed. Suisei took a brief drag, and then spoke while the smoke slowly uncurled from his lips. "The most we can do is detain you while we try to sort out the paperwork and see what we can fine you for, and then release you with a court order."

Arthur wore a scowl that expressed his disapproval, but offered no comment.

"Still..." Suisei mumbled, leaning over and tapping his cigarette against the small ash tray sitting on the end table beside Sakura. "Sakura, if we were to release you, where would you go?"

The kunoichi jolted up right as if she'd been electrocuted, and then slowly sank back in her chair. "That's...well..."

Arthur silently watched the inner turmoil churn behind the woman's eyes, and then glanced over at his partner, gauging the young man's reaction.

"Sakura..."

Immediately, he knew what Suisei wanted to say when he opened his mouth, and it was for this reason specifically that he chose to stop him.

"Kid. We need to get back to work," Arthur reminded, already moving to open the door. Suisei dropped his shoulders and sighed. Sakura's eyes followed him curiously as he moved to put out his cigarette and then follow the other officer.

"We'll be back to see you again, Sakura." He promised with a small smile. "Until then, stay out of trouble, okay?"

"Yeah..." the pastel haired girl agreed softly, returning his smile with a flat line.

The door fell closed with a sound of finality, and once again, Sakura was left inside the room alone.

* * *

It was probably around midnight when Sakura awoke in her cell.

 _Why_ she woke up, it wasn't made clear until she felt something sharp pelt her in the back. Sitting up and looking around, she tried to find the source until her eyes locked with a familiar pair of sharp and menacing ones.

"Hi, Pinky."

From the cell adjacent to hers, Reem's blue eyes gleamed from behind the bars of her prison with a predatory stare. She was poised with a rock in her hand. Despite the distance between them, Sakura still felt a semblance of safety when she scooted back on her mattress as far as she could until her back met the wall. Reem noticed this and her stare seemed to intensify.

"You put on a pretty good show today, Pinky." The petite girl said, her mouth curling up into an eerie little smile that may have even rivaled Bea's. A tremor raced down Sakura's spine at the thought. "Maybe you really are a circus freak, hm? At any rate, as part two of your initiation tomorrow, I'm gonna set your hair on fire. When it starts growing back, then we'll see what your _real_ hair color is."

Sakura did not feel obliged to inform her that this _was_ her natural hair color, for she assumed this would do little to change her fate, so she simply laid down on her cot and pretended to be asleep.

She silently hoped that when she woke up tomorrow, all her parts were still intact.

* * *

 

The next morning, Sakura was called out of the cafeteria during breakfast by Officer Suisei before Reem could act on last night's threat. While she was grateful for that, she wasn't sure how she felt about suddenly being pulled away without explanation. Suisei provided no hints as to what was going on as they left the detention center and entered a small office in the next building over. The golden name plate on the door read 'Sotomoto Suisei', which surprised Sakura.

"Suisei is your first name?" she asked, as he moved around his desk to take a seat. She took the seat on the opposite side.

"Yeah," he smiled easily, his blue eyes crinkling. For the first time, Sakura noticed that he also had a small splash of freckles across his nose. Hardly evident, but she couldn't help admitting when she noticed that it was actually quite nice.

"Sakura?"

"Hm?" Sakura sat up attentively, feeling her face flush a little.

Suisei just laughed at her. "I said, are you surprised?"

"About your first name being Suisei? Well...yeah, I guess so. With that, your whole name put together is kind of..."

"A little out there?" Suisei supplied, lighting a cigarette.

The kunoichi laughed softly. "Yeah..."

The agent smirked and reclined in his chair. Silvery trails of smoke swirled up toward the ceiling, catching in the early morning light peeking through the partly open blinds on the window behind him. "Well, I'd say you're hardly one to talk about strange, Miss Konoha."

His tone suggested he was teasing her, but the comment alone was enough to cause Sakura's smile to fade. Of course, he still didn't believe her. No one would ever believe her. In this world, it appeared as though ninja were nothing more than a myth.

Sakura folded her hands in her lap and looked away, allowing a heavy silence to settle between them.

Suisei studied the young woman closely, watching the discomfort cloud over her features. He knew without asking her that he would receive the same response as last time; about who she was, and where she was from. She was intelligent to be sure—he could see that in her eyes and the way she carried herself. What he couldn't understand was why she refused to give him a proper answer.

There _were_ real answers to these questions...right?

Of course, there were; and he was going to find out what they were today.

Sakura couldn't stand the silence any longer. Casting a sidelong glance at Suisei, she asked, "Why did you bring me here today?"

Suisei placed his cigarette inside the ashtray on his desk and leaned forward with his elbows resting on the edge. "Sakura, where are you from? Tell me, really."

"I already told you," Sakura insisted, having already anticipated this kind of evasive response , "and you already made it clear that you don't believe me."

"Sakura, before your accident, were you on any medication?"

Growing frustrated, the kunoichi slammed her palm down on the desk. The officer watched in horrified fascination as tiny, web like cracks crawled quickly toward him through the wood.

"Holy shit..." he mumbled dazedly, looking up at her in amazement. "That's a mean smack you've got there. How did you do that?"

"...With chakra." The pinkette answered somewhat guardedly. She couldn't help the smile that tilted her lips when she saw the expression on his face. It reminded her of Naruto whenever she ripped trees out of the ground, or when she lifted rocks that were in their way.

"Chakra?" Suisei repeated, raising a brow and looking skeptical. "Come on, Sakura..." he said seriously as she leaned over his desk.

If he didn't believe her, she supposed she would just have to show him.

Suisei watched her hand feel around and then pick up a paperweight that had been holding down the corner of a stack of papers. "Hey...What are you planning on doing with that?" he asked, and for an inkling of a second, as she raised the round hockey puck in her hand, he was afraid she was going to throw it at him.

Instead, her hand enveloped in a strange, unearthly green glow. "Hope this isn't a gift or anything."

Then, without warning, her hand squeezed and the paperweight crumbled between her fingers as if it were nothing more than a hollow rock.

Sakura smirked in satisfaction as she saw the disbelieving officer's mouth drop open so fast, she swore she heard his jaw snap.

Suisei gazed at her for a long minute, then fell back in his chair and swore. After a few moments, he stilled and then sat up. His unusual blue eyes glowed with new-found fascination as he stared at Sakura.

"Fuck..." he swore again, sliding his fingers through the front of his hair. "I can't believe this."

Sakura frowned, placing a hand on her hip impatiently. "You still can't believe it?"

"No, that." He gestured toward the crumbled mess on the floor. "That paperweight was actually a gift from Arthur. He's gonna be pissed."


	5. Hello, Operator?

_Someone told me long ago,_

_There's a calm before the storm._

_I know, it's been coming for some time._

* * *

"So, what else can you do?"

Sakura blinked and looked up at Suisei from the document she had just finished signing and sighed. From earlier this morning all the way to noon, they had been going through Sakura's release papers in Suisei's office. Between small discussions and the jotting of signatures on legal files, Suisei would pester her about her 'special powers'.

"They're _not_ 'special powers'," she would tell him sternly. Civilians were really strange like this. Every shinobi could wield chakra in some way or other; the how-to was just common knowledge. Each time she would provide him with a similar explanation, and each time his face would lose its excited glow (she swore he was like an over-sized child with a shiny authoritative badge, and told him so) as if someone had yanked the plug from a Christmas tree and put out all the lights.

Whenever he was like this, he reminded her so much of Naruto.

The kunoichi clicked her pen repeatedly while letting her mind wander with such thoughts. Since yesterday, she had been trying not to think of it; her home, that is. It felt like only two days had passed, but was it the same for her own world? Bea never did answer her when she asked him about where she was. In fact, lately it seemed like whenever he wasn't devoting his damnedest to setting her up for a miserable experience, he was avoiding her altogether. She hadn't seen him since the incident in the cafeteria.

Was it just her bad luck, or had he somehow—

"Sakura?"

The pen fell from Sakura's hand and rolled across the desk. "Huh?"

It was only for a second, but the officer's eyes narrowed as if he were trying to read her. Rubbing his forehead with his palm, he leaned back in his chair and feigned a yawn. "You didn't answer my question," he reminded her.

Remembering their earlier conversation, the medic nin gave the man a dull look. "I already answered your questions, Officer Sotomoto. A _lot_ of them."

"Suisei's fine." Suisei sniffed, looking slightly put off by her refusal. "Is this your way of saying you're reinstating your rights, then?"

Sakura stared at him incredulously with her eyebrows arched in alarm. "You never said this was an interrogation..."

"Well, I never said it wasn't." The officer replied coolly, a boyish grin twisting his lips.

Sakura ground her teeth together and stared at him silently. She was tempted to put that paperweight back together just for the purpose of chucking it at his head.

Suisei saw just how upset the comment made the young woman and quickly decided he'd better end this charade before she did something awful, like trash his office—or shatter all the bones in his body.

After all he had learned about her, he had little doubt she was capable of performing the latter...

"Look, it's not an interrogation..." he told her, and to his relief, the angry look on the kunoichi's face lost some of its intensity. "I was just trying to lighten the mood a little. You look upset, is all. Like you've got something on your mind." He watched her unfold her arms and let her hands fall into her lap as she looked away.

"Who _wouldn't_ be upset after spending two days in jail, and then getting attacked with lunch trays and silverware by some chick and her under bitches?" she replied jokingly. There was still an edge to her voice, but the words clearly opposed the tired look in her eyes.

Sakura could tell he wasn't buying it, but she wasn't about to give the police a real reason to put her in jail. Her heart ached immensely and her throat burned and constricted painfully at the idea of simply confessing. It wasn't so much fear of the judgement she would face, but hearing the words pass through her own lips. Once said, she would be forced to realize them and she knew the truth would snap her fragile sanity in two, irreversibly.

She couldn't lose herself—not in this unknown world.

_No_ , Sakura swallowed over the tightness in her throat, steeling herself. The punishment for her most severe crime was reserved for her own world, and she refused to talk about it until she returned.

There, she could break.

There, she could cry.

There, she would be given plenty of time to think about the cruel, unjust things she had done.

Suisei cleared his throat, causing Sakura to glance up slowly. She realized she must have been quiet for a long time, because he was staring at her expectantly. Had he asked her another question and she failed to notice?

Shaking his head as if reading her thoughts, the officer rose from his chair. "I'm gonna go get lunch. There's a little place across the street that makes really great chicken salad sandwiches. Sound okay?"

Sakura began to reply...but it seemed her body wanted to speak for itself because at that precise moment, her stomach gave an impressively loud growl.

Suisei laughed outright. "Alright...I'll take that as a yes," he said with a grin.

Embarrassed, the pastel-haired girl placed a hand over her middle and nodded as her face went red. She hadn't been eating much lately, and jail food gave her a stomach ache. She watched him pick up a set of keys from a small glass dish on his desk.

"Okay, then. I'll be back. I'm sure you understand, but I'll have to leave another officer to watch over you in my place while I'm gone."

"I understand," Sakura agreed, and then she followed him out of his office and to another one down the hall.

Suisei knocked twice, and when Sakura caught the name on the golden plate embedded on the door, her heart dropped into her stomach like a ball of ice.

_Quinn, Arthur_ it read.

The young policeman noticed the discreet look of panic on her face and gave her a reassuring smile. Leaning close to her ear and lowering his voice, he said, "Don't worry. Arthur's an old fart, but trust me, he's not that bad. Just smile and bat those pretty eyes at him—he's a sucker for smart, attractive women. We've been partners for five years, so I know how he operates."

Suisei winked at her, but Sakura had no time to reply because the door swung open.

"I heard that, you little shit." Arthur stood in the doorway with an agitated scowl that seemed to be permanently carved into his slightly wrinkled face. He glanced at Sakura and stared at her for a moment with calculative calm.

Sakura stared right back with the same passiveness, and then Suisei swore he saw dangerous, green sparks flying between them.

For a few intense seconds, he glanced worriedly back and forth between the girl and his partner. He considered calling in extra guards to watch over Sakura—for _Arthur's_ sake.

But then, Sakura stuck out her hand and smiled brightly. "Arthur, I don't think we've really had the chance to speak. My name is Sakura. I promise not to be too much trouble to you until Officer Suisei returns from his lunch break."

Arthur shot Suisei a look without shaking Sakura's hand as if asking whether this was true.

Rubbing the side of his head, the younger partner just sighed. "Please, it's just for a while. I'll be back in about ten minutes, fifteen at most."

Arthur glanced at the pinkette and frowned distrustfully, but the youngest officer could tell he was winning the battle.

"Arthur..." Suisei pleaded once more, noticing how Sakura still held out her hand.

Arthur grunted and finally took Sakura's hand in a firm shake. "Arthur Quinn..." he introduced himself. "Get inside and don't touch anything."

As he gestured Sakura into his office, he fixed his partner with another look. "If you're not back in fifteen minutes, she's standing in the hall."

Suisei just chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be back soon." He began walking down the hall, and then abruptly turned just as Arthur began to close the door.

"Hey, Arthur?" he called out. "Try not to piss her off, okay?"

Arthur's fingers paused on the door handle; he rose a brow at Suisei curiously. "What do you mean, boy?"

Suisei just shook his head. "Just don't, alright? She's, uh...got a really mean hook."

"Whatever..." The elder agent just shrugged, chalking his partner's behavior up to his over-exaggerating personality. He closed the door, leaving Suisei standing in the hall.

Suisei groaned and pulled his sunglasses down onto his face as he walked out of the building. He really hoped Arthur would remember his advice; if not, the stubborn man would soon be discovering the origin behind it.

* * *

Suisei knew there was something wrong with Sakura— _aside_ from the fact that she liked to cause massive traffic accidents. No, it was apparent in the way she had gone completely quiet for the remainder of their meeting. He wondered what it was that she was thinking about. Perhaps she was homesick? That didn't sound too farfetched...if he didn't think about the supposed fact that her home was in _another dimension_.

He still could hardly believe it; but he really wanted to— _really_ wanted to, probably more than he really should, actually...

As he stood at the counter while waiting for his lunch in the little cafe-bakery called Bee-Bum's, he recalled an early conversation with her.

The one where she agreed to tell him everything.

* * *

 _"What, really? Geez...I_ told _you to say something." Sakura slipped out of her chair and started gathering up the crumbled bits of the hockey puck paperweight. Suisei, still reeling from shock, could only sit in his chair and watch her as she tossed what she could pick out of the carpet into the trash._

_"Well, sorry..." he began lamely, still dumbfounded. "I wasn't expecting you to do...whatever that was."_

_The kunoichi clapped her hands together, dusting them off. Transfixed, Suisei gazed at her as she rubbed her dainty fingers together, noticing the lime green nail polish she wore. He was by no means an expert in the beauty department, but it was painted on so perfectly, it almost seemed unreal.  
_

_"I did it myself."_

_The officer lifted his eyes from the young woman's hands and blinked a few times, trying to look attentive. "What? Nail polish?"_

_Sakura gave him a funny look. "What...? No. You wanted to know how I crushed the paperweight, right?"_

_Suisei nodded his head as she slid the trashcan back under his desk and took her seat. She rose a hand in front of her for him to see and then, just like before, that soft green light slowly enveloped it. "This is my chakra," she explained as if she were a teacher informing a student. "It's the essence of physical and spiritual energy, obtainable through training and experience."  
_

_As he listened, she went on to explain what chakra was for and how it was utilized in her world. She told him how chakra could be used for various things, such as manipulating elements, enhancing senses and even casting very realistic illusions. It could even be used for non-combat purposes like healing, which was apparently her forte. Suisei was surprised he wasn't having too much trouble keeping up with her extremely detailed explanations. Perhaps, it was because he privately knew he was actually quite open-minded about such things that he was able to accept what she told him with slightly more ease._

_He supposed he had Mai to thank for that._

_"So, wait..." The officer stopped Sakura at one point, confused about something. "You said that this chakra can be used for fighting and healing, right? If each ability requires a considerable amount of skill, then that's one thing. But didn't you mention that stuff like healing takes extreme precision?"  
_

_Sakura nodded, smiling a little. "I had specific training in that area. My mentor recognized my affinity for controlling chakra precisely, and acknowledged my determination when I asked to be her student. Not only that, but she's also responsible for my enhanced strength," she said, referring to the way she had crushed the paperweight._

_"I see..." Suisei muttered, more to himself. He smiled as she continued to talk. Sakura was an intelligent girl, after all. Unique, but certainly capable. Albeit strange, it didn't feel like he was seeing her in such a different light._

_Well...unique was never a bad thing in his book, he supposed._

_He asked her more about her world and what it was like, and then eventually they wandered away from the topic of Sakura's origins altogether. They talked about different things like the city, different cultures, the people that lived here. Then, somehow they ended up back on the topic of how Sakura got here in the first place.  
_

_Sakura was now seated more comfortably in her chair with her legs crossed and her fingers drumming against her legs. Susei couldn't help but notice how the simple, pleasant conversation was enough to bring out a more animated side of her. He decided he liked seeing her this way._

_"You said during our first discussion that a shinigami brought you here to the Kanto region, right?"_

_Sakura's face fell a little and it was obvious the newly introduced topic had taken a chunk out of her good mood. "Yes...He said his name was Bea. But he seems to be avoiding me for some reason. At first, I thought he was just going to dump me here and leave, but then he stuck around for a while. He seems to get some kind of kick out of watching me get into trouble." She scowled, remembering the death god's little police car confetti party on the day she had been arrested._

_Suisei flipped the little ring at the top of his ear around with his index finger. "Are shinigami a common entity in your world?"_

_"No," the kunoichi answered immediately with a shake of her head. "It's weird..." she continued softly, dropping her hands and staring into her lap with unfocused eyes. "I was..." she paused, shook her head, and then began again. "Back in Konoha...that's where I should have stayed." _A hint of anger gleamed in those bright emerald eyes that Suisei felt like he wasn't entirely understanding._ "I just...I just don't know why he brought me here."_

* * *

There seemed to be more to her last words—something she left unsaid. Even now, Suisei still thought about the pause in her voice, and wondered what thoughts completed that undisclosed frustration in her head. He was sure that if he knew, he would know what was truly bothering her.

And if he knew what was bothering her...maybe, just maybe he could find a way to help her.

"Your order, sir!" A cashier happily set a warm paper bag containing Suisei and Sakura's lunch on the counter in front of him. Having already paid, he smiled, thanked her and then left the small cafe. As he walked across the street, Suisei found the sense of mind to move a little faster. His thoughts had been so focused on Sakura this entire time, he completely forgot about where she was.

He hoped he wasn't about to return to a fist fight.

* * *

Sakura really wanted to hit this guy.

The way he kept giving her those 'I'm-watching-you-so-don't-try-anything-funny' looks from over his newspaper was really starting to aggravate her. He told her to find something to keep herself busy because he had work to do and didn't have time to entertain her, (though, she had no idea how sitting at a desk and reading a newspaper was considered 'doing work') so here she was, looking around boredly.

Earlier, apparently after he was certain she didn't plan on breaking anything in his office—he was still upset after learning about the hockey puck incident, she guessed, though apparently Suisei hadn't given him all the 'details'—he allowed her to walk around the room. She found a Wha cabinet—a short bookshelf that sort of resembled a question mark stacked with various books at the far side of the room. When she expressed interest in the books on the shelf, he gave her permission to take and read one. The book about the history of Japanese law enforcement now laid across her lap half open, but she had lost the desire to read it several minutes ago. The gold-framed, owl-shaped clock on Arthur's desk read one twenty-five pm.; Suisei had left exactly twenty minutes ago, and he _still_ wasn't back.

Alright, so maybe he got held up in traffic. It wasn't that hard to believe, what with the way those cars piled up on the street. Moreover, Sakura was sure he said he would be walking to the restaurant. Was that really okay? What if he was run over on the way back?

Sakura paused her thoughts when she realized just how ridiculous she sounded. Suisei was a capable man; he didn't get this far in this world by being reckless.

"He'll be back." Arthur must have noticed the kunoichi staring at the clock with an impatient look because he spoke up. When Sakura peered up at him over her knees which were pressed up to her chest, he was looking at her over his newspaper. "He's never arrives on time like he says he will. Don't worry, I know how _he_ operates, too." He informed her, repeating Suisei's earlier words with a low chuckle. He flicked the paper in his hands and then went back to reading.

Sakura stared at him wonderingly, and then smiled slowly. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all, she decided. Wrapping her arms around her legs, the pastel-haired girl leaned forward and attempted to speak with the older officer a bit more.

"What are you reading?" she tried softly, gesturing towards the paper with a nod of her head.

Officer Quinn's gold-flecked green gaze lifted from whatever article he was reading once more. He took a moment to study her, and then his eyes crinkled in a way that suggested he might have been smiling—or smirking.

"An article about a serial killer," he answered finally. "I don't know how well you're familiar with Japan's current news, but a serial killer named Kira has been targeting select groups of people over the past couple months. The police have no idea who it is or how they're doing it..." Arthur paused and scratched his chin. "It's very frustrating."

"A serial killer..." Sakura frowned thoughtfully, leaning back in her chair. While civilian murders weren't entirely uncommon in Konoha, serial murders weren't something that normally occurred. "Are there no leads or suspects at all? How are the victims murdered?"

Arthur watched the way her lips pressed together as she considered the information he was giving her, and a small smile quirked approvingly at the corners of his mouth behind his newspaper. "There were a few people the police pulled in for an interrogation, but in the end it amounted to nothing." The officer informed her. "As for how the victims are murdered...well, it's pretty simple to explain if you're asking how they die. But as for how they're murdered..." he trailed off.

Sakura tilted her head, waiting for him to continue. "I'm not sure I follow..."

Arthur sighed and set the paper down on his desk, still open. Folding his arms across the desk, he set his chin atop his palm. "Well...the first victims were some inmates. They all suffered acute heart attacks and died instantly. It was really bizarre, because according to the detention center's supervisors and doctors, they were perfectly fine the day before."

Sakura's brow furrowed into a frown. "Hm...Well, I agree that does seem really unusual, but with that information alone, how can you be sure that it's really a serial killer? If it was just among the inmates it's not entirely impossible, but it's not the only way they could have died."

"I can't," Arthur replied simply. "I can't tell you much more than what the papers say, because the police here quit after a few FBI agents were killed off in the same way. I hear a world renown detective is currently working on the case now."

"A famous detective?" For some reason, that made Sakura anxious. Things like that only existed in her novels at home...

Poking the tops of her knees with her short nails, the kunoichi tried to imagine what a detective might be like. Tall and mysterious, to be certain. He would wear a trench coat (made of the finest material, of course, but it had to be functional) and carry around a microscope on his person at all times. He was bilingual, capable of communicating in up to at least twelve different languages fluently, and loved to travel. He was very intelligent and devastatingly handsome—but alas, his heart belonged to justice.

Sakura covered her mouth with her hand to stifle an obscene giggle. _Okay_ , so maybe she had been reading a little too much of those mystery romance novels...

"Is something funny?" Officer Quinn was looking at her as if she had just started bouncing off the walls of his office. He gave her no time to answer as he got up with a ceramic mug in his hand and headed toward the door. "I'm going to warm up my tea in the break room. This place better still be in one piece by the time I get back, understand girl?"

"I understand," Sakura answered with a small smile.

Satisfied, Arther grunted and pulled the door closed behind him.

Alone in the room, the pinkette got up to move around the room and stretch her legs. She brought the book back to the Wha cabinet and began to search for another book to read. Arthur had a lot of books at his disposal, she noticed, and they weren't all just on crime. There were cookbooks, (when did he read those, she wondered) biographies on various famous people, books on science and even a few books on historical fiction. Sakura picked up a particular one of that genre—a novel titled, _The Snow Empress._ It had a beautiful white cover depicting a woman in an elegant silk white kimono decorated with deep blue snowflake and flower patterns. She stood before a small army of men posed outside a gorgeous, oriental fortress with her back facing the reader. Over all, it was a lovely scene, aside from the mysterious blood that stained the woman's sleeve and dripped across the smooth snow...

Sakura carefully opened the book and began to walk back to her seat as she read the inside flap, when she suddenly bumped into a solid wall of... warmth. Startled, she glanced up and saw that it was actually an officer standing in front of her.

He didn't look too happy.

"Um...are you here to watch over me while Officer Quinn goes to the break room?" She asked calmly, despite the man's unsettling glare. He was definitely glaring at her; the dark purple bruises beneath his eyes didn't make it any less obvious or intimidating.

Actually, he looked kind of familiar...

Sakura's mouth formed an 'o' shape. She closed the book and took a startled step back as realization hit her. Mirroring her movement, the police officer took a step toward her and his gaze turned utterly menacing as he reached for her throat and slammed her against the bookshelf.

"You little _bitch_ ," he growled harshly next to her ear, his voice sounding coarse like sandpaper. "Look what you did to my face!"

This was the man she had jabbed in the face the other day in the cafeteria. Judging by the bandage on his face and the blackened eyes, her wild punch had broken his nose.

Sakura squirmed beneath the man's grasp, though his grip wasn't unbearably tight. She was sure that she could completely loosen his hands if she used some of her strength, but she didn't want to hurt him. "I'm sorry," she gasped, attempting to calm him. "You just...startled me...I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I could have lost my job!" The man smacked the book out of Sakura's hands, and she watched it tumble to the floor. His abrasive voice caused her ears to ring sharply as he yelled too closely to her face and she winced.

"Because of my 'irresponsibility'—because of _you_ , I could be out of a job right now." Sakura observed the glazed over look in the officer's eye and felt uneasy. This man was clearly not stable. "A lot of my friends in the police force have dropped out on their own already because of what's been going on. They're all sitting at home and looking for new jobs. They aren't providing for their families, because they're too scared for themselves..."

Sakura arched her back against the wall and let out a shallow breath as the hand around her neck twitched and tightened its grip. Strong fingers pressed harshly into the column of her throat, and she carefully tried to pry his hands away. Even if this man was a normal person, however desperate or upset he was, she wasn't about to just stand here and let him hurt her. If Arthur or Suisei didn't return soon, she would have to forcefully remove him and depending on his next response she may or may not be too gentle about it.

Sakura tried to be civil one more time.

"Please...I'm asking you to let me go—"

"Hey," the man interrupted. He was speaking so close to her face now, she could smell his foul coffee breath. "You know about him, right? Kira, that is. I hear he normally only kills criminals. You're a criminal too. So, maybe..."

Sakura's eyes went wide.

" _No!_ " she cried out in alarm, horrified. Panic-stricken, she slammed her hands into his chest and forcefully shoved him back. The officer flew back and nearly hit the wall with a surprised curse she didn't hear as she quickly ran out of the room.

In the hall, other policemen noticed her running past and began pursuing her. Her heart raced wildly inside her chest and her breath came out in short, desperate pants, but she easily escaped their grabbing hands. She was afraid. She didn't want to fight; she didn't want to hurt anyone, but without Arthur or Suisei, it felt like she was left with little choice.

She was still considering engaging the persistent officers when a loud bang echoed throughout the building. Shocked, the medic nin glanced beside her to see a smoking hole in the wall just an inch above her shoulder.

An officer stood a few feet away from her, aiming a weapon at her in both hands.

They were trying to _kill_ her, she realized—or, so she thought.

The significant cry that the bullet was only fired as a warning shot was not heard.

Another shot was fired at her as she tried to move. This one grazed her hip and it stung incredibly like a round from a katon jutsu. Doing her best to ignore the blood seeping through her clothing, the kunoichi charged forward and kicked the weapon from the officer's hands. He tried to snatch her ankle, but she managed to twist her body away in time

Just as she did, Bea appeared before her.

A moment passed between them where time seemed to slow. The shouting of demands, the sounds of running footsteps lost to the image of him floating past her and the swarm of police, grinning at her crudely. More bullets flew past her, hot lead licking at her skin, but she felt nothing. In that moment, Sakura was reminded of who was responsible for this situation in the first place.

She only had a breath of a second and then more officers, men and women both, were on her, attempting to grab her by the waist or shoulders and tackle her to the ground. Furious, the pinkette swung her fists at them expertly, pulling them toward her and sending them flying, or knocking them away as they came at her. The officer that had fired a weapon at her first tried to sneak up behind her, but she surprised him by whirling around and smashing her fist into his face so hard she felt the bones crack beneath her knuckles. He fell to the ground while holding his hands over face and didn't get up again.

The whole building was upturned in chaos.

On one side of the room stood Sakura, her fists burning fiercely with chakra and her eyes narrowed in dangerous slits, daring anyone to attack her directly. On the other side were several agents, looking back at her with mixed looks of fear and wariness.

"Stand down!" An agent ordered. Under normal circumstances, Sakura would have followed the instruction, but for some reason she couldn't seem to lower her fists. Another bullet whizzed past her head and Sakura turned her head away in time as it took out a strand of her hair.

From the far side of the room, Bea chuckled at her dispense. Sakura's eyes found him and she let out an enraged, unintelligible scream.

Suddenly, there was a shout from behind her; it sounded suspiciously like her name. Before she had the chance to turn around, however, something hard came down on and smashed against her head. Pieces of something sharp and white tumbled to the floor.

Darkness flickered at the corners of the kunoichi's tilting vision, and then she felt her body pitch sideways before losing consciousness.

* * *

Suisei released the paper lunch bag and let it fall to the floor with a soft crinkle. His mouth opened and closed without words as he tried to process what he was seeing, but all he could manage in the end was a muted gasp of disbelief.

The entire front lobby of the police station was completely destroyed.

Desks and chairs were overturned, laying haphazardly in the hallways or near the front doors. Papers were scattered _everywhere_ —in fact, he could barely see the floor. Appliances littered the floor in broken pieces, ripped from the walls. He made a conscious effort to watch his step as he moved further into the lobby to avoid the shards of glass that had been shattered in one go from office doors with what appeared to be an extremely intense force.

With each step he took, he had the incredibly uneasy feeling that he already knew just what that intense force was.

When he got there, he saw her almost immediately.

Her body was tense as if she were ready to spring at any moment, and her clothes and hair were smudged with the dust of debris. Her green chakra seemed to flame around one tightened fist, while her other hand pressed against a bleeding wound on her hip and sent that same energy into her body.

Suisei glanced toward the other side of the room and saw several agents lined up against the wall, aiming their guns at Sakura. It was obvious the two sides had just been fighting. He wondered if the injury was what had caused them to stop.

"Stand down!" He heard an officer instruct. Sakura moved slight, and not a second later a bullet whizzed past her. It missed her face by just a few hairs.

"Sakura!" Suisei yelled, trying to get her attention. He tried to warn her not to move, but she acted like she hadn't heard him. Though it was questionably close, he knew the firing officer had missed on purpose.

_It was a warning shot, but does she know that...?_

Arthur appeared, then. Suisei's mouth fell open, and he tried to call out to his partner as the man made his way toward Sakura with a cup in his hand. Not a sound passed through the room as he walked up behind the woman. Suisei had a hard time believing she wasn't aware of Arthur's presence at the time, but even as he stood directly behind her she didn't move.

Arthur calmly poured the tea out of his cup—and then smashed it over Sakura's head.

Almost instantly, the coral-haired girl swayed, pitched sideways and collapsed onto the floor.

Suisei let out a startled gasped. " _Sakura!_ "

Every able gun in the room was turned on him in alarm, but he ignored the other agents as he ran across the room. Arthur was staring down at the unconscious girl as if he had just witnessed something interesting, but when his younger partner reached him, he turned and grabbed onto his shoulders.

"Arthur—!"

"Stay back!" Arthur growled, steering him back from the scene with jarring strength. Suisei could only swallow nervously and watch as his fellow officers quickly closed in to apprehend Sakura. His eyes flitted desperately between his partner and the wall of people behind them, but Arthur stood in his way. One look at the severe expression on Arthur's face and he knew he was not going to move.

Arthur's grim expression softened when he saw the torn look in Suisei's eyes. He had seen this look once before. Sometimes remembering it haunted him; made him feel like one of the worst people he knew, even. His grip on Suisei's shoulders loosened as the other occupants eventually cleared the room and left them alone.

"Suisei, listen..." he began gently, lifting his hands.

"...I'm going outside for a smoke." Suisei informed softly, tilting his face from Arthur's view and shoving his hands in his pockets. As soon as he was released, the young officer turned and quietly walked away.

The paper lunch bag was forgotten on the floor as he left the building.


End file.
